The Last Four Minutes of Air France Flight 447

Der Spiegel (Germany) ^ | February 25, 2010 | Gerald Traufetter

[SloopJohnB]

The crash of Air France flight 447 from Rio to Paris last year is one of the most mysterious accidents in the history of aviation. After months of investigation, a clear picture has emerged of what went wrong. The reconstruction of the horrific final four minutes reveal continuing safety problems in civil aviation.

[tubebender]

Later...

[Young Werther]

Once again we have ice crystals formed by Glow Bust Warming!

[null and void]

[RightOnline]

I realize I flew much older aircraft back in my day, but.....this is exactly what “pitot heat” is for. I don’t get it.

[CholeraJoe]

Ahem. Aren’t pitot tubes heated on Boeing aircraft to avoid this problem? Oh yes, this wasn’t a Boeing, was it?

[r9etb]

Sounds like pilot error prior to takeoff. The plane was very heavy, and he had to fudge his fuel consumption numbers even to make the direct route, which took him into the teeth of the storm.

Most days he probably could have gotten away with it. But he had left himself no margin in case things got dicey -- which, of course, they did.

[ClearCase_guy]

I confess to not reading the entire article, so I may embarass myself with my stupid comment (wouldn't be the first time).

Airliners know about icing. They design the planes to handle that. The idea that an airliner has been brought down by ice crystals seems odd. It reminds me of the TWA 800 "spark in the fuel tank" idea. I just have to say "Really??"

Wild speculation: If they need to cover up a successful terrorist attack, then I suppose they have to come up with something.

[TChris]

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus was well aware of the shortcomings of the Thales pitot tubes. An internal list kept by the airline manufacturer shows there were nine incidents involving them between May and October 2008 alone.

More than two months before the Air France crash, the issue had been raised at a meeting between Airbus and the European Aviation Safety Agency. However, the EASA decided against banning the particularly error-prone pitot tubes made by Thales.

Wow.

I'm quickly adopting the "If it ain't Boing, I ain't going" mantra.

[starlifter]

All commercial airliners have pitot heat

[Mr. Jazzy]

Holy crap. The specifications for icing on the air speed indicators (pitot tubes) were set for aircraft at -40 F and 9k feet, BEFORE passenger jet aircraft (which routinley fly about 30k feet) BACK IN 1947!!!

Read this about when the pitot tubes ice up and the computer does not have adequate air speed indication:

“The situation in the cockpit was made even more difficult by the fact that the flight computer of the A330 put itself into a kind of emergency program. The plane’s digital brain usually supervises all activity by its pilots — at least, as long as its sensors provide reliable data. Without a speed reading, the computer more or -less throws in the towel, which doesn’t make things easier for the pilots.

“The controls suddenly feel completely different to the pilot,” says flight expert Hüttig. The sheer complexity of the Airbus’ systems makes it difficult to control in critical phases of the flight. It would be easier for pilots if they could simply switch the computer off in critical situations, as is possible on Boeing planes.

Anyone want to fly on a Boeing instead of an Airbus?

[Psycho_Bunny]

So it boiled down to being a pitot heating failure? Bizarre.

[Dan(9698)]

I realize I flew much older aircraft

Much older aircraft didn't lose their verticle tail in turbulence.

I note the pictures show the aircraft with an intact tail.

The verticle tail and rudder were thirty miles back from where the airplane hit the water.

[NativeNewYorker]

Well, at least the US msm put this up on page one so everyone knows about it. /sarc

[null and void]

For several years now, Airbus has offered its customers a special safety program - called "Buss" -- at a cost of €300,000 per aircraft. If the airspeed indicator fails, this software shows pilots the angle at which they must point the plane.

Up to now, Air France has chosen not to invest in this optional extra for its fleet.

Buh-bye Air France.

€300,000 for a software upgrade? And here I though Micro Soft gouged...

[CholeraJoe]

Did the pitot heat fail then? Aren’t critical systems like this redundant?

[Drill Thrawl]

It sounds to me that although the pitot tubes caused the initial problem, the pilots were unable to regain control from the computer and hence had no way to recover. Computer controlled system MUST always have a manual over-ride ability. But that goes against Euro-Socialist thinking I guess.

[Dan(9698)]

It is cheaper to replace the pitot tube than redesign the verticle fin attachment.

This is misdirection so nobody sees the slight of hand.

An airplane cannot be flown without some yaw stability.

[Drill Thrawl]

That was not pilot error. That was intentional. Fudging is not done by accident.

[null and void]

Computer controlled system MUST always have a manual over-ride ability. But that goes against Euro-Socialist thinking I guess.

Bingo. All thought flows from the top.

Socialism replaces the Invisible Hand with an Iron Fist.